Politics and Policy With a Punch

With San Jose Council Member Don Rocha terming out of his District 9 seat in 2018 and only six months to go before candidates can start fundraising for that seat, the campaign is underway. Kalen Gallagher, a board member in the Campbell Union High School District has already announced, as has neighborhood activist Sabuhi Siddique. Pam Foley, of the San Jose Unified School District Board and Doron Aronson of the Cambrian School District Board are expected to announce any day. Community leader and Assemblyman Ash Kalra staffer Shay Franco-Clausen may be close behind. Dr. Jeffrey Lease, who has been a San Jose Evergreen Community College District Trustee since December of 2010, has apparently decided not to run.

With three school board members competing for the City Council seat, we thought it would be interesting to see who has the largest electoral base in the district. The answer is a little surprising. Gallagher has the largest share of the Council District’s voters, with 54 percent of the district’s 50,000 voters. Aronson is next with 22 percent of the district voters, and Foley’s seat brings up the rear with only 11 percent of the district’s voters.